Baltimore - Attorney General J. Joseph Curran, Jr. announced
today that Margaret Marie Sermons, 44, of 3543 Hepburn Court, Burtonsville,
Montgomery County, has been charged with 17 criminal offenses stemming
from her alleged participation in the straw purchase of four handguns
from June 12 through November 16, 2000. When the Maryland State Police
approached Sermons after she had made her last purchase, they discovered
that none of the handguns were actually in her possession.

Sermons is charged with one count of conspiring to engage in the straw
purchase of four handguns on four separate occasions. As to that charge,
Sermons could receive five years incarceration and/or a $10,000 fine.
In addition, Sermons is charged with false application to purchase a regulated
firearm, perjury, straw purchase of a regulated firearm, and illegal transfer
of a regulated firearm. As to the false application charges, Sermons could
be sentenced to three years and/or a $5,000 fine for each handgun. Sermons
is eligible to receive a 10-year sentence for each handgun on the perjury
charge. All other charges involving the illegal straw purchase subject
Sermons to five years incarceration and/or a $10,000 fine for each handgun.
Sermons is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt
in a court of law.

A straw purchase occurs when an individual uses another person, the
straw purchaser, to complete the application to purchase a regulated firearm.
A straw purchase is often employed by individuals who are themselves prohibited
from legally possessing a firearm because of such disqualifying events
like prior criminal convictions. The straw purchaser, who is not disqualified
to possess a regulated firearm, then takes initial possession of that
firearm, subsequently transferring it to the disqualified individual.

This case was investigated by the Cease Fire Unit of the Maryland State
Police and will be prosecuted by the Office of the Attorney General, Special
Crimes Unit, Criminal Investigations Division, in connection with a partnership
the two agencies have formed to further efforts to combat handgun violations.
Funding for Operation Crime Gun comes from a grant received from the Governorís
Office on Crime Control and Prevention.